6.  The applicant was born in 1949 and lives in Rovaniemi.
7.  He was employed by the Evangelical Lutheran Church as a parish priest in the parish of Rovaniemi from 1 January 1988 until 31 October 1998. On 12 May 1998 the Cathedral Chapter (tuomiokapituli, domkapitlet) issued him with a warning, which was upheld by the Supreme Administrative Court on an unspecified date.
8.  On 15 September 1998 the Cathedral Chapter decided to transfer the applicant to the parish of Keminmaa, which is situated more than 100 kilometres from his home in Rovaniemi. He did not consent to the transfer. In its decision, the Cathedral Chapter reasoned as follows (translation from Finnish):
“The post of parish priest in the parish of Keminmaa is open ... and therefore it is for the Cathedral Chapter to find a suitable person for the post. It has come to the Cathedral Chapter’s knowledge that the parish priest of the parish of Rovaniemi, Seppo Ahtinen, has stated that he considers himself unable to discharge all his duties. Therefore, the Cathedral Chapter has decided to discontinue Seppo Ahtinen’s assignment to his current post and give him a new assignment as parish priest in the parish of Keminmaa.
The Cathedral Chapter has heard the Keminmaa Church Council (kirkkoneuvosto, kyrkorådet) and Seppo Ahtinen. The Church Council has given a positive statement, whereas Seppo Ahtinen has announced that he will not accept a transfer and that he considers that there are no legal grounds for a transfer.
However, considering the need to find a parish priest for the parish of Keminmaa and the difficulties that Seppo Ahtinen has had in discharging all his functions in his current post, there is a justified reason as required by law for transferring him from the parish of Rovaniemi to the parish of Keminmaa.
Therefore, the Cathedral Chapter appoints Seppo Ahtinen to the post of parish priest in the parish of Keminmaa from 1 November 1998 until further notice and terminates his assigment as parish priest in the parish of Rovaniemi on 31 October 1998.
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9.  The decision indicated that the Cathedral Chapter had applied Chapter 6, section 8a(6), of the Church Act (kirkkolaki, kyrkolagen; Act no. 1054/1993), which provides that there has to be a justified reason for making a decision such as the above. It also indicated that, as provided by Chapter 24, section 9(1), as in force at the relevant time, no appeal lay against that decision.
10.  According to the applicant, the transfer had been orchestrated by the Vicar of the parish of Rovaniemi, who had not been satisfied with the applicant’s contribution to his parish work.
11.  The applicant had been consulted in advance in writing about the proposed transfer. On 28 August 1998 the applicant’s counsel had informed the Cathedral Chapter as follows (translation from Finnish):
“As the representative of the parish priest Seppo Ahtinen I would like to inform you that he does not intend to change his place of employment. He declares that he enjoys his present post in the service of the parish of Rovaniemi. There are no legal grounds for transferring him without his consent.”
12.  On 30 September 1998 the applicant lodged an extraordinary appeal (kantelu, klagan) with the Supreme Administrative Court (korkein hallinto-oikeus, högsta förvaltningsdomstolen), alleging procedural errors in the decision. He claimed that the Cathedral Chapter had not been impartial as the Vicar of the parish of Rovaniemi, who was also the chairperson of the Church Council of Rovaniemi, had been present when the decision had been taken. However, he did not allege that the vicar had participated in the decision-making. He also argued that he had not been heard prior to the decision and that his opinion had not been taken into account. In particular, no weight had been given to the fact that his entire family lived in Rovaniemi.
13.  The Supreme Administrative Court invited the Cathedral Chapter to make observations and communicated them to the applicant. According to the Cathedral Chapter, it was an old tradition that a parish priest could be transferred to another parish with or without his consent if the transfer was considered to be in the interests of the Church. According to this tradition, which was comparable to a similar tradition in the armed forces, there was no appeal against a transfer decision. If an appeal were to be allowed, it would cause an unreasonable delay in the organisation of parish work. The Cathedral Chapter also reiterated that it was known to all parties in question that the applicant had not been able to discharge all his functions in the parish of Rovaniemi and that he had also faced disciplinary proceedings, resulting in a written warning. As the applicant had not denied this, the Cathedral Chapter found it undisputed that he was incapable of fulfilling his duties in the parish of Rovaniemi. The aim of the transfer was to avoid future disciplinary proceedings. Thus, it was also in the interests of the applicant that he be transferred. Moreover, there was a shortage of parish priests in the parish of Keminmaa. The Cathedral Chapter disputed the applicant’s contention that he had a right to be heard on the reasons discussed when his transfer was being considered. It also contested that the presence of the Vicar of the parish of Rovaniemi had raised any disqualification issue. The vicar had not taken part in the decision-making.
14.  In his observations in reply, the applicant maintained that the Cathedral Chapter had not given him an opportunity to be heard about the grounds on which it had subsequently based its decision and according to which there was a shortage of priests in the parish of Keminmaa and the applicant allegedly had difficulties in performing his duties in the parish of Rovaniemi. He pointed out that he could be removed only on grounds provided for by law and that the decision certainly concerned his rights. As to his partiality allegation, he submitted that before the meeting there had been no report on the matter, which meant that the decision had thus been based solely on the discussion in which the Vicar of the parish of Rovaniemi had taken part.
15.  On 9 March 1999 the Supreme Administrative Court upheld the Cathedral Chapter’s decision without examining the merits of the case. It reasoned as follows (translation from Finnish):
“Section 59, subsection 1, paragraph 1, of the Administrative Judicial Procedure Act (hallintolainkäyttölaki, förvaltningsprocesslagen; Act no. 586/1996) provides that a final decision may be set aside following a procedural complaint if a person concerned has not been provided with an opportunity to be heard and the decision violates his or her right. Paragraph 2 provides that a decision may be set aside, if there has been another procedural error which may have likewise affected the decision.
Ahtinen has requested that the Cathedral Chapter’s decision be set aside on the grounds that he was not properly heard. However, Ahtinen had, as noted in the decision, been heard prior to the decision. Having regard to the fact that the case concerns appointment to a position under Chapter 6, section 33 (1), of the Church Rules of Procedure (kirkkojärjestys, kyrkoordningen; Act no. 1055/1993) Ahtinen has been adequately heard.
Ahtinen has also requested that the decision be set aside on the grounds that the Vicar of the parish of Rovaniemi was disqualified from taking part in the examination of the matter before the Cathedral Chapter. As neither the vicar nor the parish of Rovaniemi is a party to the proceedings in issue and as neither can be expected to derive particular benefit or suffer particular loss from the decision, there has not been any procedural error in respect of disqualification in the matter as provided by section 10, subsection 1, paragraph 5, of the Administrative Procedure Act (hallintomenettelylaki, lagen om förvaltningsförfarande; Act no. 598/1982), as in force at the relevant time. On these grounds and having regard to Chapter 19, section 6, of the Church Act, the Supreme Administrative Court rejects the application.
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16.  It appears that the applicant has been an assistant vicar of the parish of Rovaniemi since 1 April 2002.